Boris Johnson: Government 'shamefully' scaring voters

Remain campaign are 'shamefully' scaring voters Boris Johnson has hit out at David Cameron as he toured the country campaigning for Brexit.

The Mayor of London said the government's pro-EU leaflets was a shameful waste of £9m of taxpayers money and an attempt to "scare everyone into voting for the status quo."

He joked the leaflet is not 'sufficiently absorbent' for the purposes some wish to put it to.

There are people who say Britain has "no choice" but to remain and that "we don’t have the guts to leave", he said.

But the status quo is not an option, he roared.

He said the EU is an "anachronism" and those who wanted to join originally were "wrong then and wrong now".

It is “borderline corrupt” and “anti-democratic” in the way it allocates funding, he added.

Boris Johnson delivers a speech at a 'Vote Leave' rally at the Centre for Life on April 16Credit:
Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Eurosceptic Cabinet ministers launch 'Brexit blitz'

Cabinet ministers have been let loose across the country to make the campaign for Britain to stay in the EU.

The Northern Ireland Secretary and former MEP Theresa Villiers has given a speech in Glasgow this afternoon, in which she says the European Union is "unreformable" and has the primary aim create a "country called Europe".

She said: "The six years I spent in Brussels as an MEP...those six years convinced me of one very clear thing - that the European Union is unreformable.

Priti Patel told an audience in Birmingham that if the country voted to leave the EU, it would be able to control our borders and invest in the NHS rather than "surrender taxpayers’ money to the EU."

She said that every day we remain in the EU, "we are exposed to more risks" and the EU’s "obsession" with creating a political union has led to "serious economic mistakes that have dangerous consequences for Britain."

Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell spoke at a rally tonight in Oxford with the Leader of the House Chris Grayling, who told the audience they had a job to do to persuade people to Vote Leave.

In an interview with the BBC Ken Clarke, the former Cabinet minister and pro-EU campaigner, also admitted that Mr Cameron “won't last 30 seconds” in his job if Britain votes to leave.

Mr Johnson, a potential successor to the Prime Minister, said Mr Clarke was "uncommonly pessimistic", adding "obviously David Cameron should remain in place".

Asked if he would be the new prime minister on 24th June, the day after voters take to the polls, he replied: “I certainly won’t.”

Mr Cameron has repeatedly insisted that he will not quit even if Britain votes to quit the EU.

It came as Mr Cameron’s allies said that the Leave campaign's decision to put the NHS at the heart of its bid to quit the European Union campaign will "blow up in their faces.

David Cameron

Arsenal manager warns against Brexit

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has raised concerns about the impact Brexit could have on top flight football.

The football boss questioned the impact that quitting the EU could have on the influx of players from other countries in the 28 member bloc to the Premier League.

Mr Wenger told the Guardian: "It raises many questions. Will the European players be considered as they are now? For example, if England votes for Brexit, will the French be considered like South American players [who require work permits]?

"That would completely re-question the influx of foreign players. Will England go that way? If they did, that would leave the Premier League with some questions."

Chris Grayling has previously said t he suggestion that Brexit could stop foreign stars playing in theEnglish Premier League is "outlandish" and "really very far-fetched".

'I'm Mayor of London by the way'

Boris Johnson has taken to the stage in Leeds for his third speech in less than 24 hours.

He says: "I'm Mayor of London by the way".

Again, he tells the audience that EU membership is a waste of money and has no real economic benefits for Britain.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, he said: “Great Yorkshire companies have an opportunity now to think globally. I think without the incumbencies of the European Union, British business can really thrive and prosper.

Boris compares Bremains as those who worried about the Millennium Bug #yplive#yeplive

“Regulation from Brussels probably costs UK business about £600m per week. Every small business in this country has to comply with 100 per cent of the costs and the regulations coming from the European Union, even if only five per cent of our businesses are exporting to the rest of the EU - so it is very rigid structure.

“I think the opportunity for businesses in this part of the world is to get rid of a lot of the unnecessary regulation and be able to think globally. And to have trade deals done by UK officials who know the particular needs of those businesses.”

“Two crucial points. One - the single farm payment - the Leave campaign, we are guaranteeing that we will continue to support British agriculture in the way it is being supported. So they will get the subsidies.

“Secondly, we can make life cheaper for them by getting rid of some of the regulations again.”

Let’s take control of our destiny

The minister wraps up the speech by calling on the audience to 'Vote Leave' on 23 June and "take control of our destiny."

She says: "We can choose to remain in an unaccountable, unreformed EU, that damages British business, takes our money, and puts our future prosperity at risk.

"Or we can vote for a positive and secure future as a free, independent and sovereign country, where we can spend our money on our priorities, make our own laws, and make the most of the potential and talent that our great country has to offer."

Every day we are in the EU poses a great risk

Priti Patel says that every day we remain in the EU, "we are exposed to more risks."

She says the EU’s "obsession" with creating a political union has led to "serious economic mistakes that have dangerous consequences for Britain."

Their attempts to create a one-size-fits-all single currency and monetary policy have failed with "catastrophic consequences", she adds.

"The high unemployment levels that are rife across parts of the Eurozone as a result of this dogmatic political obsession, leave us exposed to higher immigration, loss of trade and investment with the EU, and at greater risk.

"And let us remember that many of those calling for us to remain in the EU tried to force us into the Euro.

"They would have put our country at greater risk then - and by wanting to remain in the EU they are the ones putting us at more risk in the future."

EU 'squanders our money'

The Cabinet minister says: "Rather than have a bureaucrat in Brussels squander our money on EU propaganda or spend it in some far flung part of Europe - we should be able to invest our money here in the UK on our hospitals, schools, infrastructure and services."

Britain can do better outside the EU

Priti Patel is now speaking in Birmingham.

She says Britain has the fifth largest economy in the world, with growth outstripping Germany for the past four years and trade and economic policy is "dictated to us by the EU’s unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels."

Arsenal manager warns against Brexit

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has raised concerns about the impact Brexit could have on top flight football.

The football boss questioned the impact that quitting the EU could have on the influx of players from other countries in the 28 member bloc to the Premier League.

Mr Wenger told the Guardian: "It raises many questions. Will the European players be considered as they are now? For example, if England votes for Brexit, will the French be considered like South American players [who require work permits]?

Arsene Wenger the manager of Arsenal looks dejected during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham and ArsenalCredit:
Ben Queenborough/BPI/REX/Shu​tterstock

"That would completely re-question the influx of foreign players. Will England go that way? If they did, that would leave the Premier League with some questions."

James McGrory, chief campaign spokesman for Stronger In, said: "Arsene Wenger has been at the forefront of bringing the best players from around Europe to play in Premier League, which has helped to make it the envy of the rest of the world.

Tory MPs are still all friends, says Boris

The Press Association have asked Boris Johnson what he thinks about Ken Clarke's assertion that David Cameron wouldn't last 30 seconds if Britain votes for Brexit.

Mr Johnson said he did not think the former chancellor was at the recent "bondage, sorry bonding" session held for Tory MPs in Oxfordshire on Thursday night.

He said: "I don't think we're allowed to say much about what happened but it was amazingly harmonious.

Kenneth Clarke MPCredit:
Clear Blue Images

"Whatever happens on June 23, people understand that this is a radical, brilliant Conservative government they want to get on with policies that are going to deliver better lives, better public services, a stronger economy for the people of this country. Yes, we have a disagreement at the moment about Europe, there's no question," he added.

"But there are friendships within the Conservative Party that are being completely maintained untroubled in spite of this disagreement."

British Prime Minister David Cameron poses for a photo with the newly elected Conservative Party MPs in Palace Yard on May 11, 2015 Credit:
WPA Pool

American taxpayers subsidise most of the EU's security

Liam Fox, the eurosceptic MP, is now speaking to a Brexit campaign rally in Cardiff.

The former defence minister says American taxpayers subsidise most of the EU's security and says Britain will still be in the G7, IMF and UN Security Council if the public vote to severe ties with Brussels in June.

"The idea we will lose influence is false", he says.

"Our security has never depended on the EU, it's always been NATO".

He jokes that the "only thing worse than junk mail, is 'Juncker' mail".

The second time on of Cameron's MPs have hit out at the government's EU leaflet today.

Boris comments on Obama 'utter nonsense'

"The last time I checked, the United States was a member of Nato. You look at article five of Nato, it says any attack on a Nato member is an attack on all. You couldn't have a greater pooling of sovereignty than that," he said.

Aberavon Labour MP Stephen KinnockCredit:
PA

"The United States is a member of the WTO [World Trade Organization] and a range of other international organisations. We pool our sovereignty in order to make ourselves stronger."

It is understood that the US president will repeat his belief that voters are better of in the EU, during a visit to Britain next week.

Speaking to the BBC yesterday, the Mayor of London said: "I don't know what he is going to say but, if that is the American argument then it is nakedly hypocritical.

EU is primarily a political project to create a 'country called Europe'

The Northern Ireland Secretary and former MEP Theresa Villiers has given a speech in Glasgow this afternoon, in which she says the European Union is "unreformable" and has the primary aim create a "country called Europe".

She said: "The six years I spent in Brussels as an MEP...those six years convinced me of one very clear thing - that the European Union is unreformable.

The Prime Minister said: "I am deeply saddened by the earthquake in Kumamoto. This second powerful earthquake, following so quickly after the first earthquake on Thursday, has brought further terrible devastation and loss of life. Our thoughts are with all those affected.

"The full extent of the damage will only become clear over the next few days. The UK is following the situation closely and stands ready to support the Japanese response in any way we can."

Police officers conduct a search operation at the site of a landslide caused by an earthquakeCredit:
Kyodo News via AP

"Of course not… It is time to say knickers to the pessimists and the merchants of gloom and do a new deal that will be good for Britain and good for Europe showing a stagnant EU that it is time to bust loose and get out into a world that is changing and growing and more exciting than ever before."

He says that if voters hold their "nerve" and are "not timid and we are not cowed and we vote for freedom and democracy on June 23 then I believe that this country will continue to grow and thrive as never before."

Boris says June 24 will be independence day. Standing ovation from supporters.

Remain campaign are 'shamefully' scaring voters

Boris says there are people who say Britain has "no choice" but to remain and that "we don’t have the guts to leave".

He has moved onto talk about he government's leaflets and says they are "shamefully" spending £9m of taxpayers money on an attempt to "scare everyone into voting for the status quo."

But the status quo is not an option, he roars.

"I think they are hopelessly underestimating this country and what we can do many of them are the very same people who said we would have to join the euro – that it would be an economic disaster if we stayed out it is precisely because we stayed out of the euro that we are now one of the most successful economies in Europe."

EU puts up price of food in UK

He says the UK gives the EU £20 billion a year, and Brussels bureaucrats decide how to spend UK taxpayers’ money in the UK.

The Mayor of London says a large party of the money we hand over goes to the rest of the EU: "Some of it towards a demented CAP that discriminates brutally against 3rd world producers that burdens farmers with bureaucracy that tells hill farmers they can’t bury their sheep on their own farm and puts up the price of food in this country by about £400 a year."

Boris- "my family used to be hill farmers... I can tell you we weren't very good at it, we went bust! CAP isn't very helpful"

Boris Johnson: I want you to imagine that the EU had never been invented

The Mayor of London is up and now speaking to an audience in Newcastle.

He says: "Let us suppose that someone came to us here in 2016 said bonjour guten tag we’ve got this brilliant idea for a new project to take all these higgledy piggledy nations and turn them into a single political unit with a single currency and gradually moving towards a single system of government – and you Brits will have to sign up for all of it except the single currency.

"And one way or another Brussels will produce between half and two thirds of everything that goes through parliament with around 2500 EU regulations a year costing UK business £600 m per week and you won’t be able to control your borders any more, and you will have massive net immigration that puts unexpected pressures on local councils and on health services."

The Mayor of London is expected to say this morning: "EU membership costs the North East half a billion pounds every single year - that’s enough money to buy six new hospitals being wasted on an unaccountable and failing institution.

"As a country we have ceded far too much control to the EU - control over our economy, our public services, and over key decisions that affect our daily lives.

Watch | Boris Johnson addresses VoteLeave campaign

01:36

"In return we get uncontrolled immigration, which puts unsustainable pressure on our vital public services as well as on jobs, housing and school places.

"I for one have had enough, which is why I am campaigning to Vote Leave on the 23 June.

"This country will thrive if we throw off the shackles of the EU - and the people of the North East should rest assured that they stand to benefit if we take back control over our future."

Ms Patel says she is well qualified to comment on the issue as the daughter of Indian immigrants of Gujarati origin who left Uganda shortly before Idi Amin expelled the Asian community.

She says: “I don't subscribe to this view that it is racist to speak about immigration and I say that as a daughter or immigrants from decades ago. Our job is to articulate and represent the concerns of the British public – and we should be doing that whatever our backgrounds are.”

The head of Catholic church in England says Syrian refugee resettlement programme is a 'great disappointment.

His comments come as Pope Francis arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos to show his support for refugees.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, told the Today programme this morning: "I understand our government's motivation in wanting to bring people directly from Syrian refugee camps and to deter them from making these hazardous journeys, but in the first months of this programme Britain has received just under 2,000 refugees.

"Now I'm afraid 2,000 is never going to be a deterrent for the rest and I think there is a greater willingness in this country to respond."

He called on the government's refugee programme to be "speeded up", adding that we have the resources as a very rich country.

"I think we have the resources as a very rich country. Think of a country like the Lebanon and some of the other Middle Eastern countries where they have a proportion of refugees present which represents 30-40 per cent of the population and they cope.

"We are a very rich country and I think with a greater cohesiveness between a spirit of willingness that is there among many and mechanisms which governments can put into place, we could be doing more."

He added: "There are aspects of the government policy that are commendable but I've said surely that can be speeded up. Surely in the first year we can see really how many could be taken and then multiply that by five.

"At the moment it's going very slowly and it's a great disappointment."

Cardinal Vincent NicholsCredit:
Telegraph Media Group/David Rose

The Cardinal has also suggested that if Britain leaves the European Union it would create “complex problems”.

Speaking to Bishops yesterday , he cautioned that starting “down the path of division” would “almost inevitably” lead to “further division” in due course.

His comments make him the most senior religious leader to wade into the referendum debate.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby has said he will remain neutral in his public pronouncements.

Boris Johnson's dispute with David Cameron over the EU deepened on Friday night after he called the Prime Minister and his allies the “Gerald Ratners of modern politics”.

In a major speech to mark the opening day of EU referendum campaigning, Mr Johnson accused Mr Cameron and his colleagues of pretending to be a eurosceptics despite “loving the idea of a federal Europe” and said that they do not have a “shred of idealism”.

But television viewers watching events in Manchester were treated to bizarre scenes as the London mayor demanded that a reporter stop broadcasting on-air from the back of the auditorium.

As the speech continued, Michael Crick, of Channel 4 News, was heckled and then accosted by a member of the audience during his live report.

When Mr Johnson moved on, he compared Mr Cameron and his allies to Gerald Ratner – the jeweller who wiped £500m off the value of his business in 1991 by describing his products as “total c**p”.

Mr Johnson also said that voting to leave the EU is a “vote for freedom” and that the day after the June 23 referendum “will be independence day”.

Speaking on the first official day of campaigning ahead of the referendum, Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, also attacked the Prime Minister, suggesting that he believes voters are “too stupid to be able to succeed on our own” without the EU.

Barack Obama Credit:
PA

Yesterday London Mayor Boris Johnson said he did not mind the US President "joining the debate".

But he added: “Where we do part company, and where I do mind, is that it is plainly hypocritical for America to urge us to sacrifice control — of our laws, our sovereignty, our money and our democracy — when they would not dream of ever doing the same.”

Watch | Boris Johnson addresses VoteLeave campaign

01:36

Priti Patel told the Telegraph she does not think it “appropriate” for President Obama to be telling Britons how to vote in the referendum, pointing out that “diplomatically we wouldn’t go to other countries and start speaking about domestic elections - and this is a domestic election”.

Priti Patel arrives at 10 Downing Street on May 11, 2015Credit:
AFP

Chris Grayling, the Tory Leader of the Commons, added: “I can only think that President Obama doesn't realise how much sovereignty Britain has given up to the EU.

“The US would never tolerate a situation where so many of its laws were being made elsewhere and it was handing over £350million a week of money that could have been spent at home.”